Un regard sur la domesticité juvénile en Haïti

Abstract

‘Domestic Children’, ‘Service Children’ or ‘restavèk’ (‘livein’) - such are some of the appellations given to young girls and boys placed in host families in order to serve them. In exchange, these host families are supposed to cater for some of their basic needs (food, shelter, clothing), and in due course, to pay for their school fees. These children are ill treated, humiliated and considered as the lowest of the low in the family. They are treated as young slaves. They toil endlessly from morning to night, and are yet totally forgotten and attract hardly any interest. The legislation providing some degree of protection for them in the host families is totally disregarded and their rights ignored. This article focuses on the plight of Domestic Children in Haiti, the laws applicable to the situation, and the manner in which these children are living an existence deprived of rights in the country.